what to do with this 305?

After all this hub bub and bullshit I want to build one now.... I've got a SCAT crank that is 1 piece rear seal and has 350 main journals but is 3.75" stroke. Yes the 383 crank. But it looks like the same deal is used to make the 305 into 340 or so stroker motor... Thanks for all the data. I'm not sure what I would put it in but I think I want to build it for fun... Need to put the feelers out for a free unit lying around. Someone's got one....

 

I'm glad this thread has helped someone other than me.

 

Bob, did you get the 53 from Arrowwood? You do realize you've got some mods you need to make to put that motor in there, right? I don't have anything left parts wise but my old turd is for sale on CL Toledo!! If you want a Punkabilly 4 door '54 Bel Air!

 

dump it in the nearest creek. i've never had good luck with a 305

 

Have a 305 in my shop truck 78 El camino. With the exception of the mentioned camshaft, have all the other pieces laying around. Thanks all for the USEFUL information. Wankers need not reply.

 

I can tell by your avatar....... LOL

 

I have stock 305's in '86 Cutlass's ... I think they are great engines (both have over 320,000 kms). If I were you I would also add a new oil pump (std press and vol) and a new timing chain also. I am freshening up a 305 for my '38 Olds that is going in front of a T5.

If anyone is going to put a 350 crank in a 305 or vice versa, I would recommend getting the rotating assembly rebalanced. The imbalance creating by substituting one in place of the other will pound your bearings over time. I took two relatively fresh 350's apart (because of extremely low oil press at idle when warm) and found the bearings pounded and also discovered that both had 305 cranks in them.

 

True it will probably cost you a bit more than doing similar things to a 350 simply because the 305 specific pieces tend to run a bit more. Machine work should be exactly the same cost for the same job though.

I've got a short block from one out in the shed that ran like a bandit and still had one cylinder wall messed up because the engine had sat with water in that cylinder for a period of time before it was stuck in the GMC pickup I bought it in. But 200 bucks for a truck that got me around for a year and a half wasn't bad.

You can pick up a re-ring kit from Northern Auto Parts for 95.76 that includes rings, rod & Main bearings and gaskets. http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=716 Good quality rebuild pieces for a reliable engine that you can put a lot of miles on. I have a similar kit in the 350 in my daily driver 71 GMC that I have over 50 K on right now.
With having the heads done, putting in a cam, lifters and timing set plus a 4 barrel intake and carb you can be running for under 500 bucks pretty easily and if you scrounge right maybe quite a bit less than that.

You will learn real quickly on here that we have a lot of individuals who like to spout opinions that aren't worth a lot but never offer real help on much of anything. We also have some that think that everyone on here should be able to build a 10,000.00 engine for our car no matter what our personal budgets are. And then there are the clowns who are always pushing their latest piece of junk at someone because they don't agree with the make or model of your chosen project. Those usually have 300 total posts of which 275 are in the classifieds though.

Quite often it isn't what you start with that makes a nifty running engine but the combination of the pieces you use in that engine. The 305 with the right cam, carb and intake should be a nice runner in that tin indian that will see a lot of happy cruising miles.
And they can sound sweet as all get out with a set of glasspacks.

 

Blah, blah, blah... Don't listen to the naysayers. 305's are great motors... Especially if they are free!

Don't go crazy with it. Fix it right but fix it cheap. Detail it up and run it without apology. It'll work perfect for a light street/daily driven car.

 

thank you, I agree with you 100%...I hate when a thread is bogged down by garbage, such as..."don't buy it", "throw it in a swamp" etc...

 

yeah dan, I am planning on a front clip swap with something. What that something is I dont know yet. I hear the nova front ends are pretty close, but finding something like that around here decently priced is going to be tricky.

 

the naysayers are not reading this!!!!!

 

Try Gobels or Edgerton Auto Salvage if you have not already.

 

I second the Northern Auto rebuild kit, used many of them. If you buy their cam kit, cross reference to the the Comp Chart and get something close, .470-.480 lift 270-280 advertised duration is about as big as you need in a 305, if youre running power brakes dont go too big on duration.

Looks like youre on your way, dont get too much $ into it.

Really if a 305 block needs bored or you have to buy pistons - I'd change plans

Let us know if this is a roller block or not. I may still have an 89 formula 350 roller cam and lifters. Ill see if I can find it in storage.

(I IM'd shovelheadrider to set me straight on the 305 vs 350 crank balance issue, sorry for the misinformation)

 

this motor came out of a '79 truck, so I believe it is not a roller

 

The price was right for what you got so you are not going to have alot of money thrown away on the motor,if its what you want build it and drive as for the earlier comment that all sb chevys are alike,thats just ignorant,The main reason that there are so many people who don"t like the 305 is this,back when the 305 and the 307 came out they were the worst,most undependale engines that Chevrolet ever produced,so its not just naysayers shooting off there mouth as some have said,the 305s and 307s made their own bad reputations.Good luck with your motor man and remember never just freshen up the top of an engine without reworking the bottem end.

 

i looked at that Northern Auto site. It looks like it is a good setup.

My question is this, what changed between 1980 and 1988 on the 305's. I have an 88 block that was TBI from a truck. It has the roller casting but has the weird cut at the top of the lifter bore that lets the oil out too fast when using roller lifters. I have the 601 heads, performer intake and 600 holley. Not sure of the cam yet. I will be going in front of a 700 r4 with power brakes. How does my engine differ from the earlier models? The only thing that I can find is the one piece rear seal. Are there other differences?

 

If my memory serves me correctly, conventional hydraulic lifters continued for a few years in the trucks, after the center-bolt heads, and one piece rear main seal generation change. You may have one of those.

The "later" 305 heads have 58cc combustion chambers, with a design that is pretty good, within its limits, that is.

I have installed stock, or near-stock 305's (87-later) in over 20 vehicles, all with excellent results, carb, TBI, MFI, muti-carb, etc.

Put a 500 cfm carb, and some 1.6:1 self-aligning rockers on it, and call it done. Get some valve cover adapters and run some tall old ones, if you are still getting hassled.

 

lot of good info in this thread, thanks everyone for the input...i'll be bookmarking this one

 

Do the research on the front clip, Bob. Some are wider than others and some just plain suck with the steering set up. I did all that when I had that '54 but it is now for sale by the guy who bought it from me 2 or 3 years ago! I just remember there were some front width issues and others with the front vs. rear steer.

You could always piss someone off and stuff an S10 frame under it!! I've got a spare...

 

from what I understand the 77-81 camaros, trans-ams, and novas work pretty well and pretty much slide into place. Im debating putting a sub-frame in this now though, because it might be just as much hassle to subframe it and then rehang the front clip as opposed to making the current sub-frame work for air suspension and a V8.

 

Stock steering sucks with a V8 from what I recall on my '54. I left it a 235. Too much in the way.

 

I'm still researching quite a bit before I start cutting anything apart, my o.g. sub-frame is in pretty decent shape and the thing steers great, so if I can make it work I will probably just stick with that. My question is, can I solid mount motor mounts to this frame for the V8?

 

The 305 5.0L variant of the small-block Chevrolet introduced in 1975 had a displacement of 305 cu in (5 L) with a 3.7350-inch (94.869 mm) bore, and 3.4803-inch (88.4 mm) stroke. Many performance enthusiasts have a marked preference to performance upgrades on the 305 because of the high possibilities of 305 cu in (5 L) engines which have considerably choices to get power potential at low cost due to the displacement and high selection of aftermarket parts to combine. Not all cylinder heads apply to this engine due to larger valves have bore interference or shrouding issues with the narrow bore of the 305 engine, but there are many LO3 setups that can produce over 300 horsepower from the right combination.
Induction systems for the 305 included carburetors (both 2 and 4-barrel), throttle-body injection (TBI), tuned-port fuel injection (TPI), and sequential fuel injection (GM Vortec).

LG3

Years:1976-1980
Dualjet 2 bbl carb version with 8.5:1 compression.

LG4

Years: 1980-1987
The LG4 produced 150 hp (112 kW)-170 hp (127 kW) and 240 lb·ft (325 N·m)-250 lb·ft (339 N·m). The addition of a knock sensor for the engine management system in 1985 allowed an increase in compression and a more aggressive spark timing map in the ECM. As a result power increased for the 1985 models to 165 hp (123 kW) from the 150 hp (112 kW) rating in 1984.

L69

Years: 1983-1986
The L69 featured a compression ratio of 9.5:1, heads from the LU5 engine and the camshaft from the L83. Additionally the engine came equipped with a dual snorkel air cleaner assembly, aluminum intake manifold, aluminum flywheel and a knock sensor which allowed more aggressive spark timing. This engine produced 190 hp (142 kW) @ 4800 and 240 lb·ft (325 N·m) of torque @ 3200 rpm.

LE9

Years: 1981-1986
The LE9 5 L (305 cu in) was a truck/van version that also had a 9.5:1 compression ratio, the LG4 cam and 14022601 casting heads featuring 1.84/1.50" valves and 58 cc chambers. The engine made 165 hp (123 kW) @ 4,000 and 250 lb·ft (339 N·m) @ 2,000 rpm.

LB9

Years: 1985-1992
The LB9 was introduced with 215 hp (160 kW) and 275 lb·ft (373 N·m) and varied between 190 hp (142 kW)-230 hp (172 kW) (with 275 lb·ft (373 N·m)-300 lb·ft (407 N·m) of torque) over the years offered.

LO3

Years: 1987-95
The LO3 produced 170 hp and 255 lb·ft (346 N·m) of torque; 190 hp at 4,400 rpm and 275 lb·ft (373 N·m) at 2,400 in 1993-1995 GM trucks. This engine used TBI.

5000

The Vortec 5000 L30 is a V8 truck engine. Displacement is 5,013cc. Bore is 95 mm, stroke is 88.4 mm. The compression ratio is 9.1:1. It is a based on the Generation I small-block from Chevrolet. It was replaced by the 4.8L 4800 LR4 for the 2003 Chevrolet_Express" full-size vans. In van configuration it produces 255 horsepower (190 kW) net flywheel at 4,600 rpm and 290 ft·lbf (393 N·m) net flywheel torque at 2,800 rpm. The engine uses a hydraulic roller cam and high flowing, fast burn style vortec heads. Differences include bore and stroke, intake valve size, and smaller combustion chambers. L30 applications:


I owned a '91 Firebird Formula WS6 305HO-5spd 3.42 limited slip which was rated from the factory as 20hp less than the same car with the 350 that year. The only transmission that year availible with the 350 was the 700r4 though... the 305-5spd was actually quicker with a little tuning. I worked in parts at the dealership at the time so I had access to SLP parts at cost. The car wasn't a rocketship but it surprised more than a few 5.0 Mustangs and the occasional Vette driven by the typical "Vette owner". I added the 1LE brake package, Hotchkis suspension bits, etc. as well... at times I kinda wish I still had that car.

That being said... valve seals (easy fix) were the biggest issue with all the pre-Vortec 305's and I sold ton's of them via warranty and retail. If you have one and can do it very affordably go for it and remember that if you do buy some good parts for it you can always remove them and run them on a 350 later on down the road. Personally speaking the roller cam variants ('87 & up) are the only ones I would bother messing with if you want to actually make power with a 305.

Have fun

 

holy sweet jesus that is a lot of info!! thank you!! I know I wont have a race car fast motor, which I'm fine with, I just want a good running/sounding motor...so I think this 305 will be a good fit.

 

anyone know if this work with my block? thanks again for all the help
http://toledo.craigslist.org/pts/1861319218.html

 

I just looked this head casting up in my interchange book and it says they came on '95-'98 350 crate motors.
Doesn't say what size valves or chamber size,though.
I'll see if I can find more info for you.

 

Hard to find any info on these but from what I gather the chambers are 76 cc and they came with 1.72'' intakes and 1.5'' exhaust.
I wouldn't want a chamber that big on a 305,it wouldn't have squat for compression.

 

thanks for the info...I knew it was too good to be true lol

 

You shouldn't have a problem solid mounting your motor,but you should use a rubber trans mount,supposed to put a lot less stress on your bell housing. I've seen aluminum bell housings explode when the motor and trans were mounted solid. And I don't mean it broke,it exploded,as in pieces flying through the firewall.
That's how I did my last car,a '53 Ford with a blown 350 with 4-speed,and not one problem.
I used circle track mounts on my block and made my own frame mounts.